NEW IND PRESS (Chennai, India) 31 October 06 Catching snakes is child’s play for Meesae Ramanna
The thought of snakes petrify many, but for this 52-year-old helper it is no big deal. ‘Meesae Ramanna’, as he is called for his thick moustache, has a unique ability to catch snakes.
He has caught over 1,000 snakes of all kinds including the venomous cobra, most of them at RV College of Engineering, where he works. ‘‘Snakes are frequent visitors to the campus. Since it is surrounded by lush greenery, it has become a habitat for many reptiles,’’ he says.
Whenever a student or professor spots a snake, Ramanna is immediately informed. After catching the snakes, he does not kill them, but takes them to a nearby forest and releases them.
His obsession for catching snakes started when he watched his uncle catching them and it did not take Ramanna long to follow in his footsteps. ‘‘Nobody taught me how to catch these snakes. It just came naturally to me and by grace of God, I have never been bitten by snakes,’’ he says.
Ramanna used to catch the snakes by putting a cloth on the snake’s hood. However, with his family insisting that he be more careful, he devised his own tool to catch them. ‘‘It’s difficult to get snakes out of holes as we are likely to get bitten if we try to pull them out of there.
So, I decided to use a stick. One end of the stick has a thick sponge. This end is inserted into the hole and placed softly but firmly on the snake’s hood. Then, I catch it and put it in a bag,’’ he explains.
Ramanna, who works as a maintenance man in the college, gets extra pay every time he catches a snake. ‘‘The amount ranges anywhere between Rs 50 to Rs 500. Sometimes, I don’t take money from people I know,’’ he says. With this ability, he wishes to help more people as long as he can.
Catching snakes is child’s play for Meesae Ramanna